It was a game that was always going to require the Kansas City Chiefs to score a bunch of points. That’s what’s required when facing Josh Allen and the rest of the Buffalo Bills. The good news for Chiefs KIngdom is that the team came through with 32 points to best the 29 put up by Sean McDermott’s team. The reward is another appearance in Super Bowl LIX.

While Patrick Mahomes worked his magic, as usual, with his first multi-rushing touchdown game of his career, the Chiefs had other players on offense who really stood out with strong efforts—including a couple of players who you might not expect.

Given that stars typically receive the lion’s share of the spotlight, we wanted to highlight some other players who deserve a tip of the cap as well.

JuJu Smith-Schuster

If you had two thirty-yard plays for JuJu Smith-Schuster on your bingo card, you might want to advertise your psychic prowess.

Smith-Schuster came into Sunday’s game against the Bills with a total of 18 catches for 231 yards on the season and 130 of those yards came in a single game in the season’s first half (a win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 5). He had only 4 catches for 29 yards since Week 15 and that included his failure to produce a single catch against the Houston Texans in the divisional round win.

Suffice it to say, few Chiefs fans would have pictured Smith-Schuster coming up with a 36-yard catch and another 29-yard catch on the night. As it turned out, those big gains came in very handy in a tight game for the Chiefs—giving them two of their biggest plays on the night.

JSS might be an overlooked target at this point, but the postseason has proven time and again that anyone can be a hero.

Xavier Worthy

The Chiefs have struck gold on two straight draft classes when it comes to wide receivers with the second-round investment in Rashee Rice in 2023 and Xavier Worthy in 2024. On Sunday, this season’s first-round pick came up huge in the AFC Championship.

Worthy had over 100 yards from scrimmage for the Chiefs on Sunday and led all receivers with 85 yards. Not only that, but he added a touchdown and another 16 yards on two carries, showing just how versatile and valuable he is for the Chiefs offense overall.

It’s rare for Andy Reid to put such trust into a young target, but Rashee Rice proved last year that a rookie can make a real impact. Worthy is next in line.

Nikko Remigio

The Chiefs have employed some spectacular kick returners in franchise history and some others have even had their playoff moments—from Dante Hall to Kadarius Toney. We’re not sure where Nikko Remigio is going to fit in when all is said and done, but no one can take away the big gains he made for the Chiefs in an oh-so-close matchup against the Bills.

Remigio handled all return duties for the Chiefs in the wake of Mecole Hardman’s absence—as the Chiefs shut down their wide receiver’s season earlier this week, keeping him on IR with a knee injury. He had four kickoff returns with an average of 26.8 yards, but it was his lone punt return that truly tipped the scales against the Bills.

Check out this tremendous 41-yard return that set up the Chiefs’ third touchdown drive of the night with a short field shortly before halftime.